Lung cancer and naturopathic medicine

Lung cancer in Canada

Ontario Cancer Statistics 2018 revealed that there is a rising trend of the lung cancer prevalence, especially in females. This is because there is an increasing number of a newly diagnosed lung cancer patients in addition to the existence of the old cases. In men, the new lung cancer cases show an increase among certain age groups https://www.cancercareontario.ca/en/cancer-facts/lung-cancer-prevalence-rise.

Conventional Lung Cancer Treatments

Surgery, Radiation, Chemotherapy and Targeted agents (or biologics) such as Nivolumab, Cetuximab and Gefitinib are the standard lines for treatment of lung cancer. The combination of treatments and their sequence depends on many factors such as the stage of primary cancer, the general condition of the patient, respectability of cancer, and tolerance to chemotherapy or biologic therapy.

The prognosis of lung cancer depends on the stage of the disease, pathology (small cell versus non-small cell), the general condition of the patients and his/her response to chemotherapy or radiation.

Role of Naturopathic Medicine

As you see from the survival figures mentioned above and the statistics of lung cancer, the survival rates are very low, especially in the advanced stages. Most of the diagnosed cases present with an advanced disease. So, patients with lung cancer need other non-conventional means of care and support to improve their response to chemotherapy and radiation or biologic agents to help them improve their response to treatment and hence improve their survival rates.

One of the commonly used modalities in lung cancer care from Naturopathic Medicine is the High Dose Intravenous Vitamin C. This High dose of Vitamin C (which can be as high as 100 grams) cannot be given orally and has to be given by intravenous route. High dose Intravenous Vitamin C works by many mechanisms such as increasing the amount of Hydrogen Peroxide (HEO2) within the vicinity of the tumour cells which is a prooxidant factor that helps to kill off cancer cells. Moreover, High Dose Vitamin C prevents the Angiogenesis process which is essential for Cancer Cell survival. Also, it enhances apoptosis which means that it downregulates the cancer cell division and reduces its aggressiveness.